I wonder if playing is part of every writer’s life. Playing satisfies the need to create story.
We anthropomorphize animals, objects, and gods, giving them the qualities we know about humans and weaving elaborate tales about them. Sometimes those stories make it to the page–or the screen. Whether it’s a tragedy about Dionysus, a story about a brave collie, a book about a self-sacrificing tree, or a tale of cars left to rust in an abandoned town, it all springs from the imagination, first nourished when we played with our Lego blocks, stuffed animals, Matchbox cars, or dolls.
I’ve been posting photos of my action figure Katnip (based on The Hunger Games’s Katniss Everdeen–and hey, shout-out to Best Actress Jennifer Lawrence) to weave a story for a creative friend of Tim’s who inspires me all the time with her photos, the toys she finds or creates, and photos and stories she once shared using one of her action figures. I don’t know how long my story lasts, or even all the details of how it will play out, but it’s teaching me to share a tale with photos and as few words as possible. It also sometimes gives me a chance to photograph books I’m reading or have read. (If you’re interested in following along, the pictures are in this Flickr set.)
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day. You can see a larger version with better map details by clicking here.
Very interesting … and while I swore off of getting involved with anything to do with the Hunger Games, I hope you have a production crew to help you with this one.
I think the only maps you’re missing are Maguire’s OZ and Howard’s Hyperian Age.
I almost used this map that’s made the rounds of the Internet. Have you seen it? I’m not sure what delights me more on the map: “The Wardrobe” or “Where The Wild Things Are.”
While I traveled with Lemuel Gulliver and J. Swift though Brobdingnag, Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, Japan and Houyhnhnms, I noticed that only Lilliput made the fantasy map. To be honest, I only made it through Brobdingnag myself.
Somewhere in there has got to be the Cliffs of Insanity.
Not to mention the Pit of Despair.
Is there a reason for your shunning of The Hunger Games? Dystopian novels aren’t usually my cup of tea, but I read these because Kathy S had read them and wanted someone to see the movies with–and I wouldn’t see the movies without reading the books first (same with Twilight)–and Aaron LOVED the books (and subsequently, the first movie), and I wanted to bond with him over them. Plus I figured Tom would like them (he’s the science fiction/fantasy fan among us), and it’s fun when we read the same books.
Back when I was in high school, the public library was across the street from my school and visited it almost every other day, speed reading through every fantasy/adventure series they had on the shelves … Asimov, Bradbury, Burroughs, Doyle, Heinlein, Howard and a zillion others. These days it takes me a lot longer to get through this type of book. I never read Harry Potter, Twilight, or the Hunger Games. I am reading GRRM’s Song Of Ice And Fire series and I got through the first three books by spacing them out at least every other year.
I’m reluctant to tackle dense series now, too. However, even with their differing levels of writing quality, I’d say HP, Twilight, and THG books are all easy to race through. They don’t have the level of detail (including invented history and background) of Tolkien, for example.